Larchmont, NY-June 13 – Larchmont Mayor Liz Feld, a candidate for New York State Senate in the 37th District (Westchester County), today announced that her first order of business in Albany, if she is elected to the Senate in November, will be to serve as the Prime Sponsor of legislation to enact the 4% annual cap on local tax hikes (or 120% of the rate of inflation, whichever is less) being proposed by Governor David Patterson (D) and Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi (D) to begin bringing property tax relief to New York taxpayers.
“The property tax crisis in Westchester County demands immediate action, not more waffling from Albany legislators who avoid making the tough calls every election year for fear of offending one powerful interest group or another,” Mayor Feld said. “The tax cap is an essential first step toward bringing Westchester families, senior citizens and small business owners tax relief. Sponsoring the bill to achieve it will be my first priority in the State Senate. But the tax cap is not the only step we need to take; long-term spending reform in Albany and local relief from unfunded mandates are equally essential components to solving New York ‘s tax problem.”
New York residents and businesses are the highest taxed in America . Property taxes statewide are 79% above the national average. According to the National Tax Foundation, Westchester County ranks as having among the top three highest property tax burdens in the nation.
“Albany legislators are now trying to do a ‘soft float’ out of Albany for the summer after passing a $122 billion budget.” Mayor Feld continued. “But there’s no summer holiday for taxpayers; we suffer the consequences of their actions all year round. Legislators should stay in session until the property tax relief is achieved.
“A sitting Democratic Governor, a former Republican candidate for Governor, and a former Democratic candidate for Governor all support this property tax relief plan, yet we can’t get the bi-partisan plan sponsored in the State Legislature,” the mayor continued. “There is something very wrong with that. New York taxpayers have been pushed into a financial corner by decades of bad fiscal decision making in Albany ; the day of reckoning is coming.”
The 37th State Senate district includes the towns/villages/cities of Briarcliff Manor, Ossining, Chappaqua, New Castle , North Castle , Port Chester, White Plains , Rye , Rye Brook, Harrison, Mamaroneck, Larchmont, Scarsdale , and New Rochelle .
Mayor Feld has devoted much of her life to public policy. In September 1999, she helped launch the Million Mom March, a national grass-roots organization established to promote sensible gun control legislation. She also founded and served as executive director of LAUNCH, a citizens action group established to revitalize a Westchester County business district. She has served as Senior Vice President of Communications for Nickelodeon, Director of News Information at ABC News, and as a public affairs specialist at the White House Office of Management and Budget, and as a press officer in the Vice President’s office during the Reagan Administration.
The incumbent state senator in the 37th District has has held public office since 1977.